As usual, the chess year starts big, with the traditional Tata Steel super-tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands.
It is the 77th edition of this glorious event, and this year there will be only two groups, instead of the usual three.
Play starts on January the 10th, at 7:30AM EST - 13:30 CET.
Last round at 6:00AM EST - 12:00 CET.
ICC will show all the games and have LIVE commentary, with the traditional TRIVIA contest!

Group A presents some of the strongest players in the world, with an average ELO of 2747, which makes the tournament a category 20.

Round 1
An interesting round today, with three decisive games: Vachier-Lagrave won vs. World Champion Hou Yifan; Ivanchuk, in a rather incredible end of the game, beat Jobava and Caruana, playing an instructive and quite exciting game - especially for the time scramble - won against the Chinese GM Ding Liren.

Round 2
Caruana wins again, and in a very convincing way. Today’s victim was GM Saric, from Croatia. Fabiano opted for a Spanish, and Saric avoided the Berlin, knowing that Caruana is an expert of that variation of the Ruy Lopez. But it didn’t help the Croatian, who was outplayed by the American-Italian ace. Magnus Carlsen drew his game with the raising star - now American - Wesley So. In the all-China battle, Ding Liren prevailed over the Women World Champion Hou Yifan. Van Wely had a totally won game in the ending, but unfortunately (for him) he could not finalize the whole point, and had to settle for a draw. This is a very long tournament, therefore it’s early to make previsions, but the question comes natural: is Fabiano Caruana going to do a “Caruana” again?

Round 3
What a round! Chess fans could not ask for more, after today’s rollercoaster at the Tata Steel tournament. The World Champion lost to Wojtasez, and Levon Aronian was defeated by the new - in the life rating list - American number one Wesley So. Caruana had to use all his patience and strenght to draw Giri, after 7 hours of struggle. Ding Liren won with Jobava, and the oldest in the field, GM Vasily Ivanchuk, won his game with local hero Loek Van Wely to take the lead, joining Fabiano at the top of the standings.

Round 4
The Benjamin’s Bump hits again! It’s traditon that when Joel is on the air, there is almost never a dull round and today, with 4 decisive games, the round has been more than just interesting. First off, we need to mention that the old wolf is in the sole lead now, with 3.5 out of 4: Vasily Ivanchuk is a player that can beat anyone, when he’s in good form. Today he played a great game against the young French GM Vachier-Lagrave. Magnus Carlsen is back in gear, with a convincing win against Loek Van Wely. The strong Chinese Ding Liren beat Radjabov, and now shares second place with Fabiano Caruana - who drew Wesley So - half a point behind Ivanchuk. The lowest rated player in Group A, GM Saric, won with Jobava, and now is in the 50% group with Magnus Carlsen, Giri and Vachier-Lagrave. The tournament so far has been incredibly lively, with great games - and great blunders! - and if it keeps this trend, there will be fun for everyone!

Round 5
Again four decisive games in this 5th round. There are interesting cues that comes out checking what happened today: Magnus Carlsen beat Aronian and is back in the tournament, at +1 now; Aronian is out of form, at least in these first rounds; Wojtaszek is the top-guys killa, having beated both Carlsen and Caruana in the first half of the tournament; Jobava keeps playing challenging chess, and losing; Hou Yifan today showed that she can hold her male foes. Ivanchuk today drew his games with Ding Liren, to keep the sole lead with 4/5. Wojtaszek joined Ding Liren in second, half a point behind. Magnus, Fabiano, Anish and Wesley are the chasing pack of howling young wolves, with 3 out of 5. The next rounds will be extremely interesting; will the great Ivanchuk be able to defend first place?

My vote goes for Wesley So to win the Tata Steel 2015.
After six rounds , he is only 1/2 point off the lead , and must be really fired up to show his elite rivals that he is now ready to seriously challenge Magnus and Fabiano for the world number one ranking.
It would be nice to hear some replies from my fellow I.C.C.members , as to who they think will win the Tata Steel 2015 , and their reasons why.
Regards
chessman64.

Round 6
The clash at the top - of the rating list - has seen Numero Uno Magnus Carlsen affirm his superiority, in a fantastic game that the Norwegian won in a convincing way. With today’s win, Magnus is back in warzone, ready to put on the table all his powerful strenght. This is the third win in a row for the World Champion, who seems to have got back his legendary prowess. The old wolf Ivanchuk resists on top, with a draw against Saric. Vasily leads with 4.5/6, followed by the amazing trio: Carlsen, So and the top-guys killa Wojtaszek. Wesley So is having a terrific tournament so far, and today he managed to beat Baadur Jobava, who is in the middle of a nightmare, with 0.5 points out of 6, at -5. At 3.5 we find MVL, Giri and Ding Liren, then Fabiano Caruana and Radjabov with 3 points. With 7 rounds to go nothing is decided yet, but looking at how Carlsen reacted after his first not-so-good games, it’s even too easy to see him as the favorite for the final success.

Hi Lyon
Interesting to read your prediction about Magnus winning the Tata.
I admit it does look as if he may be unstoppable now , after winning three games in a row, but I just have a feeling that Wesley will upset the odds.
Anyhow , it’s proving to be a great tournament - hopefully the Baden-Baden event that follows this one will be just as good.
Regards
chessman64.

Round 7
The two World Champions played an interesting game today, with Carlsen emerging victorious after some struggle. Now the Norwegian talent has joined Ivanchuk at the top of the standings. Vasily indeed drew with Giri, after a 102 move and 7 hour marathon. Jobava finally interrupted his negative series winning a quite incredible game against Wojtaszek. MVL defeated Saric and Ding Liren won over van Wely. After 7 rounds, and with 6 rounds to go, Ivanchuk and Carlsen lead with 5 points; half a point behind So, MVL and Ding Liren. With 4 points Wojtaszek and Giri.

Round 8
An amazing 8th round in Wijk aan Zee! Strange openings, blunders and brilliancies: all the best a tournament can offer to chess fans. Carlsen shift into his usual incredible gear and wins the 5th game in a row, to take the sole lead with 6/8. Ivanchuk falls into a tricky and rare variants of the Spanish opening, and lose in 26 moves to Wesley So, who is having the tournament of his life so far. Caruana needs 82 moves to regulate van Wely, trying to stay up there, though 1.5 points behind the leader. Radjabov beats Wojtaszek who, after defeating the two super guys, is now struggling. Ding Liren defeats Saric in 34 moves. Only one draw in this incredible round: Hou Yifan vs. Aronian. After 8 rounds, Magnus Carlsen leads solo, with three young wolves howling in the hunt half a point behind: MVL, Welsey So and Ding Liren. Ivanchuk stands alone in 5th, with 5/8, then with 4.5/8 Caruana and Radjabov. Tomorrow is a rest day in Wijk aan Zee. Tuesday round 9, starting at 8AM EST.

Round 9
It’s 6 in a row for the World Champion! Magnus defeated Radjabov today, and now leads by a full point. None of his pursuers was able to keep his amazing pace: Wesley So and MVL drew, and Ding Liren lost to Giri. Hou Yifan unleashed a very brave attack playing Fabiano Caruana, but the Italian ace managed to survive and eventually the game was drawn. After 9 rounds, and with 4 rounds to go, Magnus - with an impressive +5 - leads alone with 7/9. One full point behind Wesley So and MVL, then with 5.5 Ivanchuk and Ding Liren. The tournament his causing a lot of changes in the live rating list, with Carlsen gaining 10.9 points and moving up to 2872.9, Wesly So gaining 23.2 poiints and now number 7 in the list, and Jobava losing 26 points, on the brink to falling below 2700.